Apron holder



March 31, c Y JR h APRON HOLDER Filed Oct. 3, 1929 1 N VEN TOR.

A Z`TORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 31, 1931 CHAELES F. BERRY, JR., OF SPRINGFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T AUTO SMOCK &7 CLAMP CO., OF SPRIIGFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS, A

CI-IUSETTS COEPOBATION OF IVIASSA- APRO I-IGLDER Application filedGotober 3, 1929. Serial No. 3973051.

This invention relates to an apron holder particularly useful inconnection with automobile repair work. Generally speaking, it servesthe same purpose as the apron holder according to Patent No. 1,67 2,165of J une 5,

1928; that is, the holder is to be used-for temporarily and securelyclamping a larger piece of paper or similar material over the back of anautomobile seat in order to protect the up- 10 holstery from contactwith the greasy clothes or hands of the' garage mechanic while he isworking in the interior of the car. However, the structure of the holderforming the subject matter of this specification differs materially fromthe prior structure in a way which constitutes a substantial improvementover the prior device.

The purpose of this invention isto provide an apron holder of the kindmentioned which is formed from a single piece of material such as anelastic wire, so that there is no chance for any parts to becomeseparated or lost,

which can be stripped on and off the apronprotected back of the seatsolely by utilizing the elastic properties of the device, therebyrendering its application extremely simple,

and inducing the mechanic to readily avail himself of its advantages,and which, furthermore, can be manufactured and sold at a very lowprice.

In judging the merits of different devices of this kind the question oftheir relative usefulness should mainly be determined by the degree ofreadiness with which the inechanics are found to regularly employ thedevice. The possible bad efiects, also from a hygienic point of view, ofgreasy substances left on the seat coverings, are seldom fully realizedby the workman and, for thisreason, 49 there prevails a tendenoy on hisside to neg lect the application of such protective means, a tendenoywhich will be the stronger the more bothersome their application is. Inthe development of the holder of this invention I have, therefore, madeit my task to put device on the market which will be convincing to thegarage owner, not merely because of its indubitable advantages for hiscustomers and its low price, but mainly because of 50 the ease withwhich he will see himself it to' educate his employees to the habit ofconstantly using these facilties.

How these various ends and other advantages have been obtained willappear from the following description and the drawing pertaining to it.

1 is a side elevation of the device with the lower looped ends slightlyeXposed to perspective View for the sake of clearer showing; r

Fig. la gives the correct side-elevational projective dimensions andangular relations of the right-hand loop portion;

Fig. 2 shows the clevice at right angles to the position in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 illustrates the position of the holder when attached to anapron-covered automobile seat; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the invention. i

Beferring to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, it will be noted that the holder isformecl from a single piece of wire, preferably round steel wire withsome kind of rust-protective ooating. At the top of the frame there isprovided a coiled portion 10 having a number of wire turnsusually fromtwo to three, as shown in Fig. 2. On the left side, the wire coil eX-tends in a straight portion ll with terminal loop 15 and, on the rightside, in an arcuate portion 12 which gradually goes over into a straightportion 13 with terminal loop 14:. This latter straight portion l3 andthe left hand straight portion 11 enclose'the acute' angle a (see Fig.la) facing the arcuate portion 12. The plane of the left-hand loop 15 isperpendicularto the plane of the turns of the coiled portion 10 and theright-hand loop 14 is arranged above loop 15 and in a parallellyinclined position thereto, forming an angle b between the two loopswhich may be smaller than the before mentioned angle a between the twostraight portions.

The frame or holder may be machine-bent in cold condition from coil wireand, eventually, after bending be normalized. In any event, the cost ofmanufacture will be very low. i

Fig. 3 illustrates schematically the holder in use when mounted over aseat back 20 of IUU comparatively large dimensions and provided witii arobe rail structure 22. The apron is shown to cover with its front end23 the entire bottom upholstery 21 and' the front side of the back 20and with its rear end 24: the entire rear side of the back.

lt will be noted by comparing Fig. l and Fig. 3 that the variousportions of the holder in its open or working condition closely followthe contour of the seat and leave suiiicient space te bridge prot'udingcross support, such as the robe rail, near the top of the rear side oi"the seat. This close adaptation to the outlines of the back of the seatis desirable since the space in a closed automobile is already verynarrew tor a person working therein. A very desirable and valuablefeature of this-holder is the absence of all sharp edges and corners andof projecting portions in which the Clothes of t-he laborer might getaught; all portions of the holder are rounded and smooth.

When the holder is being opened in order to place it on a seat the twoextensions or arms that is, front arm ll and rear arm 12, 13, will movewith respect to each other nearly as it they had a common pivotal axisin the center of :the turns of the coil 10. l`he relative angularposition of the two terminal loops will, therefore, be difierent to -acertain extent for difierent openings of the holder or differentdimensions of the back of the seats. However, I have found that for theusual thicknesses of the seat backs, due to the general yieldingproperties of the frame, there is always asuflicient tangency or contactobtained between the planes of the loops and the co-acting seat suracesto prevent the formation of lastng impressions on the npholstery. Theangle b formed between the two terminal loops is so selected as toinsure the best contact for seat dimensions most frequently met with.

In order to make the whole structure still more pliant and to meet moreeasily also unusual seat conditions, the design of the holdermay besomewhat changed as shown scheniatically in the; modification of Fig. 4.Instead of only one coil, this Construction proides two coiled portions30 and 4-0 spaced a suitable distance apart by an intermediate straightor curved portion 35. It is obvious tha t this design will have: theproperty of ready adaptation to the form of the seat to a still higherdegree than the original Construction because there are now, as it were,two pivotal joints.

The two end loops need not, of course, be circular in shape; anyloop-like formation as, for instance, a plane spiral or oval shape,would answer the same purpose-that is, to provide a more extendedcontact between the holder and the seat faces. Such and similar minorchanges will be within the scope of 5 `the invention.

It will be understood now that the advantages designated above as theobject of this invention are fully incorporated in the describedstructures. Such advantageous features as cheapness of manufacture,close adaptation to the seat form, absence of clothes-entanglhg portionsand separable parte, have been emphasized already. Another feature thatdeserves mention is the convenience with which a number of such devicesmay be placed on a wall bracket or the like by means of the ear iormedby the turns of-the coil. Apart from these obvious advantages thereexist the other, less tangible, but, to my opinion, more importantfactors which, reasonably, must be expected to contribute materially toa more general introduction of reliable protective means in connectionwith ear repairs. The casual loss of holders is a matter of little.concern to the garage ,owner and will not reduce his willingness toreplace the holders. The extremely simple application of the device willtend to overcome a natural hesitancy or reluctancy of ,the mechanic toavail himself of a device the importance ,and usefulness of which he isnot always sufiiciently aware of. It is, indeed, this double aspect ofthe situation from the garage owner s and-the mechanids Viewpointthatmust be taken into consideration in any structure of this kindintended to meet with wide adoption. A so, in 'this respect the presentstructure is thought to fulfill the requirements in a particularlyuseful way.

Claim's:

1. An elastic holder' for temporarily securing a protective cover overan automobile seat or the like, consisting of a single piece of elasticmaterial which comprises a plurality of spaced-apart coiled intermediateportions, a straight extension therefrom on one side with a loop-liketerminal portion to form the one clamping arm, and an arcuate extensiontherefrom on the other side continued in a straight portion with aloop-like terminal portion ,to form theother clamping arm, said areuateextension being adapted in clamping condition to bridge protruding seatportions, said stnaight continuation making with the other arni .anacute angle facing the ;arcuate extension, and said two difierent-armlooplike terminal portions being so formed and positioned relative toeach other that in clamping condition the planes of the 'loops will liein substantially parallel contact With the co-acting seat faces.

2. An elastic holder for temporarily securing a protect-iyo cover overan automobile seat or 'the like, consistng of a single piece of elasticmaterial which com-prises a coiled intermediate portion, a straightextension therefrom on one side With a loop-like terminal portion toform the one clamping arm, and an arcuate extension therefrom on theother side `continued in a straight portion with a loop-like terminalportion to form the other clamping arm, said arcuate extension beingadapted in clamping condition to bridge protruding seat portions, saidstraight continuation making with the other arm an acute angle facingthe arcuate extension, and said two difierent-arm loop-like terminalportions being so formed and positioned relative to each other that inclamping condition the planes of the loops will lie in substantiallyarallel contact with the co-acting seat faces.

3. An elastic holder for temporarily secnring a protective cover over anautomobile seat or the like, consisting of a single piece of elasticmaterial which comprses a plurality ofspaced-apart coiled intermediateportions, a straight extension therefrom on one side With a loop-liketerminal portion in a plane substantially normal to the planes of theturns OI" the coiled portions to form the one clamping arm, and anarcuate extension therefrom on the other side continued in a straightportion with a loop-like terminal portion to form the other clampingarm, said arcuate extension being adapted in clamping condition tobridge protruding seat portions, said straight continuation making withthe other arm an acute angle facing the arcuate extension, and said twodifferent-arm looplike terminal portions being so formed and positionedrelative to each other that in clamping condition the planes of theloops will lie in substantially parallel contact with the co-acting seatfaces.

4:. An elastic holder for temporarily securng a protective cover over anautomobile seat or the like, consisting of a single piece of elas-- tiematerial which comprises a coiled intermediate portion, a straightextension therefrom on one side with a loop-like terminal portion in aplane substantially normal to the planes of the turns of the coiledportion to form the one clamping arm, and an arcuate extension therefromon the other side continued in a straight portion with a loop-liketerminal portion to form the other clamping arm, said arcuate extensionbeing adapted in clamping condition to bridge protruding seat portions,said straight continuation making with the other arm an acute anglefacing the arcuate extension, and said two different-arm loopliketerminal portions being so formed and positioned relative to each otherthat in clamping condition the planes of the loops will lie insubstantially parallel contact with the co-acting seat faces.

5. An elastic holder for temporarily secui-ing a protective cover overan automobile seat or the like, consisting of a single piece of elasticmaterial which comprises a coiled intermediate portion, a straightextension therefrom on one side with a terminal circular loop 'in aplane normal to the plane of the turns of the coiled portion to form theone clamping arm, and an arcuate extension therefrom on the other sidecontinued in a straight portion with a terminal circular loop to formthe other clamping arm, said arcuate extension being adapted in clampingcondition to bridge protruding seat portions, said straight continuationmaking with the other arm an acute angle facing the arcuate portion, andsaid two different-arm terminal loops being so positioned relative toeach other that, under clamping conditions most frequently met with, theplanes of the loops will lie in substantially parallel contact with thecoacting seat faces.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature.

CHARLES F. BERRY, J

